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Purveyor

(29,876 posts)
Tue Nov 12, 2013, 03:17 PM Nov 2013

Russia Negotiates Its Biggest Arms Deal With Egypt Since The Cold War After Obama Cuts Defence Aid

Russia is negotiating its biggest weapons deals with Egypt since the Cold War as it seeks to capitalize on U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to cut defence aid to the military-backed government.

Egypt is seeking as much as US$2 billion in Russian weaponry, including MiG-29 fighter planes, air-defence systems and anti-tank missiles, said Ruslan Pukhov, a member of the Russian Defence Ministry’s advisory board and head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow.

The Russian defence and foreign ministers will fly to Cairo this week for two days of talks with Egyptian officials on “military-technical” cooperation, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Nov. 8. Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy confirmed the arms talks in an interview with Russia’s state-run Arabic language channel RT Tuesday.

The Obama administration last month suspended some military aid to Egypt, including US$260 million in cash and deliveries of F-16 fighter jets, helicopters and tanks in an effort to prod the North African country toward democracy. Egypt’s army ousted President Mohamed Mursi in July, leading to clashes between security forces and Mursi’s supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood that have left more than 1,000 people dead.

The Russian visit sends “a strong political message that stresses the desire” of Russia “to bolster relations and cooperate with Egypt in all fields,” Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty said by phone Tuesday. This doesn’t mean “substituting one party with another but rather diversifying the alternatives and choices.”

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http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/12/russia-negotiates-its-biggest-arms-deal-with-egypt-since-the-cold-war-after-barack-obama-cuts-defence-aid/

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Russia Negotiates Its Biggest Arms Deal With Egypt Since The Cold War After Obama Cuts Defence Aid (Original Post) Purveyor Nov 2013 OP
In some ways Russia is a more "dependable" arms supplier. pampango Nov 2013 #1

pampango

(24,692 posts)
1. In some ways Russia is a more "dependable" arms supplier.
Tue Nov 12, 2013, 03:44 PM
Nov 2013

After you buy their weapons they don't try to control whom you use them against. My guess is that the Egyptian military learned the hard way that depending on the US for weapons can constrain what you can do when "the people charge the palace".

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